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The Eyes of the Mars Curiosity Rover

Saturday, 01 December 2012

Page 2 of 2

Custom CCD Image Sensors

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, high
performance CCD image sensors were
not very common. The Jet Propulsion
Laboratory had design, packaging, and
test expertise, but was looking for a wafer
foundry to build a custom CCD image
sensor that would fit the application.

In terms of process, Teledyne DALSA
engineers went with a conservative and
simple approach, with just enough innovation
to get a high-performance CCD
without taking risk for reliability. For example,
minimum feature size was not
pushed to the limit, and material selection
for some layers was made to avoid
potential reliability problems. CCDs
were chosen because they are a robust
technology and are qualified for space
travel. The CCD is well known for its superior
image quality, which is often preferred
over speed.

Eventually custom design was matched to custom process, to build 1k by 1k
frame-transfer CCDs. After approximately
three years of development, a
batch of CCDs was made, and they
passed all tests for the Spirit and Opportunity
rovers.

Custom-manufactured CCD image
sensors from Teledyne DALSA proved
their reliability in these previous Mars
Exploration Rover missions, and the
components were chosen once again to
function as the imaging technology for
the Curiosity rover’s navigational eyes.

Teledyne DALSA engineers reviewed
the design with NASA engineers, proposed
changes, made masks to build
the devices, and fabricated and tested
the wafers. Then the wafers were sent
to NASA, where the CCD was tested
and assembled.

The Mission Continues

The Curiosity rover has captured the
minds of many, and even has its own
Twitter and Facebook accounts to share
information and photos via social
media. Signals from the Curiosity’s cameras
take about 14 minutes traveling at
the speed of light to reach Earth, and
then they must be downloaded and
processed. Amazingly, these images can
be shared very quickly with the public.

Soon after the landing, the Curiosity
rover started looking around at its environment
and sending images back to
Earth. As this mission to Mars continues
to search for past or present conditions
favorable for life, the imaging components
on the rover support the exploration
by helping the Curiosity to safely
navigate the Red Planet’s surface.

This article was written by Robert Groulx,
CCD Product Engineer, and Raymond Frost,
Senior Process Integration Scientist, at Teledyne
DALSA Semiconductor (Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada). For more information, visit
http://info.hotims.com/40440-142.

Question of the Week

This week's Question: A recent study created by the Arizona-based Paragon Space Development Corporation says its life support system could help humans survive on Mars. The proposed Environmental Control and Life Support System, the company says,...